Steve Nowicki
- Professor | Department of Biology | Duke University
Research Interests
Cognition and signaling in songbirds
Our lab studies animal communication and sexual selection from an integrative perspective using a wide range of behavioral ecological, neuroethological, developmental, genetic, and evolutionary modeling techniques—we cover the full range of Tinbergen's famous “Four Questions.”
Our current research at Pymatuning involves asking whether plumage coloration provides information about cognitive capacity in swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana). We are also investigating whether short-term illness affects song in swamp sparrows in a way that undermines the reliability of song as an indicator of male quality. We also are collaborating with Professor Bill Searcy (University of Miami) on a project looking at how the syntax of song type usage may reflect an underlying strong generative grammar, analogous to the deep grammar of human languages.